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“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve been a bad son. You don’t have to rub it in.” I scratch him on the head, and he starts to purr.
“You hungry?” I get up and go to the tiny kitchen that in my loft.
Like I said before, living up here definitely has its perks, but this makeshift kitchen is not one of them. I’m pretty sure most apartments have appliances bigger than the ones I have. I open the cupboard and grab a can of cat food.
“I’m pretty sure I feed you better than I feed myself, dude.” He sits at my feet and stares at me, not caring what I have to say, merely waiting for his lunch. I peel the lid off of the can and set it on the floor. Then I go back and open the fridge to see what there is for me to eat. Half of a left-over pizza, which looks like it’s probably a week old, and a couple of Lunchables. What can I say? I eat like a toddler.
“Even more reason for me to visit. They will feed me and send me home with leftovers.”
I take a quick shower, throw on some black basketball shorts, a red t shirt and the same sneakers I have had for the past two years. They are a wreck, but I can’t bring myself to buy new ones. It’s not like I don’t have the money to do it, I just don’t want to make the drive to Breakers. It’s feels like it takes a whole day. I realize that’s probably just an excuse to not touch my nest egg.
Opening the door, I call out to my furry friend, “Come on Sharkbait, I know you don’t want to be stuck in this place all day.”
WHEN YOU'RE READY
17
I shut it behind us and he follows me down the steps. He takes off as soon as we are outside “Bye bud. See ya tomorrow.”
I get in my beat-up silver Honda Civic that I got my junior year of high school. My parents told me they would match whatever I saved to help me buy a car. I saved 5k over two summers. The car was five years old then, but it still runs like it’s new. Never mind all the dents I have put in it from sliding into poles and other people’s vehicles when the roads are slick with ice. Rear wheel drive cars are annoying in the winter, and I might not be the best driver. I have never gotten into a serious accident, though.
I drive the ten miles out of town it takes to get to my parents’
house. Then down a long dirty driveway.
“Is that…a cow?” I squint through my dirty windshield and sure enough, I am driving up onto a brown cow. “When did they get a cow?”
I drive the rest of the way to their home, avoiding the new cow, and park in the driveway. When I get out, I immediately hear talking and laughter coming from their side porch. I round the corner and see that their good friends Bill and Kathy are here.
“Grayson! I wasn’t expecting you.” My mom says and she stands up to meet me for a hug.
“It’s Tuesday and I know I have been a slacker.”
She pulls back and gives me a worried look.
“You have a life, I understand.”
She turns and walks back to her chair.
“Hey Dad, Bill, Kathy,” I say as I shoot my hand up to give each of them a little wave.
18
T. SPEAR
“Son. Where ya been? Your mother has been making these big dinners every Tuesday, and I can’t stomach much more leftovers.”
“Sorry dad. I’ll be glad to take them off your hands.”
Lord knows my fridge looks as vacant as my soul.
“Well, come.” my dad waves me over. “Sit, sit, we were discussing the fundraiser in a couple weeks.”
“Oh yeah. This one is for the museum, right?” I say as I sit in one of the chairs that circle the fire pit in the center of their massive porch.
“Yeah, they need an extension on their building.” Bill says,
“They are growing quicker than we can keep up with.”
